Learn To Be Hungry
by Giggi1
Summary: Written for stannisficartweek prompt: What happened between Ned Stark and Stannis when Ned came to lift the siege on Storm's End? (fanfic)


Stannis Baratheon was standing on one of Storm's End's watchtowers, from where he had been watching the departure of the Tyrell army. He could not say how long it had been since the direwolf banner had begun replacing that of the rose outside the gate, but he remembered that his first reaction had been immense relief. He had spent so long thinking of the Tyrells and Redwynes as the threat, the reason they all had been in danger of starving.

Then came anger. Anger at his relief – they did not deserve his fear, only his scorn! - and anger at the army, lead by the direwolf banner, for _letting_ them leave. There had been no fight, no struggle as it occurred when taking prisoners. The northern army had simply taken the place of the Tyrells and Redwynes. These were the people who would have killed him, Renly, and everyone in this castle had he given them a chance. If it weren't for the smuggler, Davos, they would probably be dead already, if not from starvation, then from killing each other for the little food that remained. Were it any of his five hundred starving men leading the army, Mace Tyrell and his men would already have received the end that they deserved.  
_How often have I dreamed of seeing his head on a spike.  
_

No raven had made it through the lines in a long time, which meant the newest report on the war he had heard had come from Davos. Not surprising for someone without any connections to the great houses, the man had not been able to give him many details. For all Stannis knew, Robert could be dead and Aerys have won the war, which would also explain the peaceful handing over of the castle. But he did not think that, not really; Too unbelievable was the notion of the North changing sides so quickly, much less if Eddard Stark was still alive as Davos claimed.

A minute later, a scrawny squire arrived at the watchtower. He had probably been searching for Stannis everywhere, and could only breathlessly get out the words, 'My lord, it is - huuh – Lord Stark, he says he – uuff – lifted the siege and wished an - huh – audience with you.'

Stannis nodded courtly and gave orders to fetch the three people he been considering as an escort since he had seen that the siege was being lifted. The squire did not look thrilled about being sent off again to search the excited castle, but he bowed and left. Stannis followed more slowly to meet them a the gates. He knew how tiring every task seemed with and empty stomach. Everyone inside this castle knew.

_Some highborns never get the chance to experience true hunger_, he thought dryly. _How lucky we've been._

He had heard of the famously fat lord of White Harbor, and could not help but wonder how a man such as that could ever understand the struggles of his people.

_It is frivolous. Nobody who knows true hunger would look kindly upon a man such as that.  
_He certainly did not.

On his way to the gates, Stannis walked through a castle that was livelier than it had been since the day Davos had arrived with his onions. People surrounded him and asked him a thousand questions, but he waved them off and they let him pass. They would not have done that before the siege, but in the last year, Stannis had earned their respect.

Unsurprisingly, Renly and Maester Cressen waited for him in the courtyard. The maester had known him long enough to know where he had to be to give his counsel to him, if Stannis wanted it or not. 'My lord', Cressen said, bowing. 'Stannis!' Renly shouted, running at him and waving his arms. 'Stannis, did you see the army? They just scared away the Tyrells! Robert is here to save us! We can have a feast now!'

Stannis disentangled himself from Renly's clutching hands. 'I have been told that it is Lord Stark leading the army. I will go to speak to him.' He looked at Maester Cressen while he was talking.

Why was it Eddard Stark who had come to lift the siege, and not Robert? Could Robert be...

_Of course he could be, fool. He fought in a war! _

_But if it is Lord Stark who has come here, it seems that we have won._

_Or at least, that the Targaryens have lost..._

'I bet Robert is with him!', Renly prattled on. 'I bet he just sent Ned to speak to you because you are always annoying him by telling everyone what to do!'

Stannis angrily glared at his younger brother and Cressen quickly snatched Renly's arm and pulled him a few steps away, chiding him about being rude.

_I'm the one who tried to keep you save_ Stannis thought sadly. _When Robert left to stage is rebellion, it was me who worried that you had enough to eat!_

It was probably only natural. How could a child understand that he could not just give up the castle and join Robert? After all, at none of the times Robert had been around had anyone been starving.

'When are we going to Robert?' Renly asked him. 'I already told you, Robert is not here!', Stannis snapped. 'And in any case, a parley is no place for a child.' With these words, he turned around and continued walking. 'I'm coming too though! I'm not a little child!' Renly moaned, scurrying after him. Maester Cressen did his best to persuade him to stop and suddenly, miraculously, the continuous complaining somewhere vaguely behind Stannis ceased.

_Perhaps with the help of some armored guards_, he thought cynically, though he did not seriously believe it.

When he finally came to the gates, two men of his escort had already arrived. It was amusing to see the knight look at Davos with open admiration while the smuggler apparently told a riveting tale of how he had almost been caught by the gold cloaks in King's Landing. Stannis had observed this phenomenon frequently in the last few months; the same men who would find it demeaning to be found in the company of commoners, much less thieves or criminals, almost hero-worshiped Davos, who had been born in Flea Bottom.

_It is only right that they are grateful. He saved us all from starvation and without him, this castle would probably have fallen. A service like this deserves a reward, a knighthood even... Ah, but it is not proper to have a criminal become a knight. His years of smuggling cannot simply go without a punishment..._

In this moment, Davos discovered the lord. He stopped his tale mid-sentence and, looking sheepish, he bowed. It was obvious he thought that this was not the best story to tell in front of Stannis Baratheon.

Stannis did not comment on it, however, although he did not approve of the grin Ser Kallon had had when listening.

'We are still waiting for Ser Farley, then I will go to talk to Lord Stark, who seems to have lifted the Tyrell siege. You will be my escort, and...'

It was then that Ser Farley arrived. Looking puzzled, he went to stand next to the other knight, who promptly whispered, loud enough for Stannis to hear, 'It is Lord Stark! He lifted the siege!' 'Lord Stark? What about Lord Baratheon? Isn't he here?'

'I guess we will find out soon', Stannis interrupted impatiently, 'and as I said, you will come with me. It is customary to take knights in a situation like this, but as Davos is the reason we we can stand upright to have this audience, it is only fitting for him to join us.' He nodded at the smuggler, who, apparently taken by surprise by these words, stammered, 'I'm... Thank you, my lord'

A few minutes later, the gates had been opened and the group left the castle to meet Eddard Stark, who was already expecting them. Normally, they would have gone on horseback despite the small distance, but as all the horses had been eaten a long time ago, they had no choice but to approach him on foot. Stannis ground his teeth. They had to look a sorry bunch to the Northerners, undernourished as they were.

When they had gone about halfway, Lord Stark and his escort dismounted as well. Stannis knew this was a reaction to their horselessness and tried to walk even more upright than usual, hoping his accompaniment would follow his example. As they got closer, he could see the five men under the direwolf banner. There was Eddard Stark, who had sometimes visited Storm's End with Robert. Three of his companions wore the northern sigil on their breastplate, but the last one... a golden rose.

Furious, he seriously considered turning back. But it was his duty as holder of the castle to talk to Lord Stark, and so, grinding his teeth, he continued walking.

_Perhaps this is the reason Lord Stark asked to meet out here and not inside Storm's End. I would never let a foe cross the threshold._

When he heard an angry gasp behind him, he knew his followers had spotted the Tyrell knight as well.

_If he expects us to forget that he still tried to kill us yesterday, he will be sorely disappointed._

'Lord Stannis', Eddard greeted him when he had finally reached him. 'It is good to see you alive and well!'

'Lord Stark. What news of my brother?'

'Prince Rhaegar is dead.' He did not sound overjoyed at the thought. 'So is Aerys, his wife, and his children. Robert sits the Iron Throne.'

Stannis fought to keep his face expressionless.

_Robert is alive! We won!_

_I held Storm's End. I did not fail him._

Eddard Stark seemed to sense his relief.

'I have prepared for a a thorough report on the war to be sent to the castle, but I am sure right now you want to celebrate', he said.

Upon a gesture one of his men brought forth the bag he was carrying and produced meat and dried fruit, which he then distributed among the men. Stannis' escort hastily mumbled words of thanks and then began to eat greedily. And, to Stannis' utmost indignation, so did the Tyrell knight.

_Let him be hungry and watch _us_ eat, for a change. He has no right to this food._

'Why is the enemy sharing our bread and salt?', he asked abruptly.

His men directed their attention from away their food to look up and then, one by one, slowly stopped eating when they realized what he was talking about.

Eddard Stark looked uncomfortable.

'The war is over, and they have yielded peacefully.'

'To my knowledge, yielding foes are taken captive, not taken to parleys!'

'I was hoping a peace could be arranged between -'

'They want to be our allies only after the war was won. Such as these cannot be trusted!'

The Tyrell envoy looked at him with disgust. 'You dare talk about trust? You, who betrayed the King?'

Stannis stared back with open hatred. 'Aerys was mad. He slaughtered the innocent and betrayed his subjects. He was no true king, and all who remained loyal to him are traitors to the people of the Seven Kingdoms.'

'You... dare, _you_...' His arm twitched, as if to reach for his sword but when looked into the enraged faces of four of the people he had tried to kill for over a year, he thought better of it. He spat, mounted his horse, and rode back to the camp. Stannis hoped against hope that one of the archers in the castle would pick him off, but of course, they could not know what had just happened.

Lord Stark sighed. 'It should be tried to make an alliance with the Tyrells. They are still one of the most powerful Houses in Westeros.'

'My brother is King, no? They owe him their alliance in any case. Or else he must appoint a new lord of Highgarden who will.'

Eddard looked like he would have liked to respond something, but then he closed it again.

_Speak plainly or remain unheard, my lord._

'It is for Robert to decide anyway', he said, almost to himself.

The way he said Robert's name sounded resentful.

_Did they quarrel? Robert, having a fight with his 'chosen brother', the perfect Ned Stark? What are you not telling me?_

'Has Robert - ', he began, but was interrupted by Eddard quickly changing the subject.

'When I said it was good to see you alive and well, I meant it, Stannis. Truth be told, many people feared we would find a castle of corpses. Robert was worried about his brothers.'

'I assume none of our messages got through?' Stannis asked.

'Some did, in the beginning. But then we received no news for a long time.'

_That, at least, can easily be explained, my lord._

'I apologize for not being able to send more. We ate the remaining ravens.'

Stark looked aghast. 'We... I should have thought of that possibility.'

'We sent you a message warning you that there would be no more birds, but I am guessing it did not make it through.'

'It was said to be impossible, holding Storm's End for over a year.' Eddard sounded honestly impressed.

'I did what my brother asked of me. But many of the men that are alive would be dead if it weren't for Davos.' He inclined his head in the smuggler's direction.

'My lord', Davos said, but seemed unsure what to do next.

_There is no need to be intimidated. You saved us long before he did._

'When we were down to rats and roots', Stannis continued, 'This man slipped through the siege lines with his boat and brought new supplies to the castle. A smuggler by trade, yet a hero to the garrison.'

Eddard looked at Davos interestedly. 'I saw those siege lines. It must have taken much skill to navigate through them unseen.'

Thank you, my lord', Davos answered. 'I have years of practice.'

Stannis' knights laughed, while the Stark escort looked at Davos in the way in which highborns always looked at smugglers unless they had happened to save their lives. Eddard merely smiled. 'I am surprised you are out here and not in a prison cell. It seems Robert's stories about his unforgiving brother were unfounded.' His smile became nostalgic and he looked into the distance, probably remembering his time at the Eyrie.

'I will reward Davos for his services. But I must also punish him for his crimes. It will be just.'

Lord Stark did not answer.

_Does Robert really think that of me? That I am incapable of forgiveness? That I would not take the circumstances into account? _

They stood there in silence for a while, the men resuming their meal. Then Eddard said, 'Your men in Storm's End must be hungry. I will arrange for food to be brought in the castle.'

Stannis nodded in response and the Northerners mounted their horses and rode back to the camp.

Turning, Stannis looked around him, took in the hollow faces of the men who defended his home with him. He remembered Renly and his thin arms, remembered the tears of joy in the eyes of adult men when Davos had come with his onions. Then he looked back to the army from the Reach.

_Robert may have forgiven you, but I have not, nor will I ever. You feasted within sight of our walls, and I will never forget that._


End file.
